The Spirit Called Death
by Zoroarkkkk
Summary: Death. They were there at the start, and surely, be there at the end too. Before Manny, North, Pitch, Sandy, before everyone. But, not even the Guardians can see them.
1. Chapter 1

It was cold. It was was windy, but it was beautiful outside. Just entirely _beautiful._ It was too bad about what was coming.

The sun was shining down on the frozen lake, two siblings played boisterously, laughing and squealing as they skated. The elder, a boy, at least, they thought the tall brunette was male. It was kind of hard to decipher humans, but, the figure continued watching, walking slowly down to the lake. Regretfully, they just continued walking, eyes falling on the smaller human. This one looked more female, but, children were hard to determine. And at the same time, it didn't really matter. Female, male, young, old. These were just titles that humans added to themselves. Why? Not sure, maybe it was something that needed more observations. Perhaps that would be the next research topic.

And then, the true fear crept into the humans' minds. A terrible sound of ice cracking and, whimpers of fear. That was probably one of the saddest sounds to hear. Fear of the inevitable pain. Heart hurting at the expressions on the humans, no matter how many times this happened, it was just as sad as the last. The smaller child whimpered as she looked down at her feet, the ice was too thin in the middle of the lake. And, both children were shaking. But, it was her time. Watching carefully, the dark figure slid out onto the ice with the humans, neither saw him.

"We're gonna play a game." His (?) smile was tight, pained, but, the human still tried to calm the young one down. Close enough to them, they looked to be related, perhaps siblings. Humming curiously, the spirit wandered closer to the pair, looking over the boy.

"Now, what are you planning?" Murmuring quietly, he watched the two interact as the boy tried to prevent the inevitable. And, in the blink of an eye, the boy Jackson Overland surprised all parties present as he switched places with his sister. "No." Voice caught, the figure tried to grab the boy's hand, and cringed as a chill passed through where contact should have been made. The boy fell into the icy waters, and his fate was sealed.

The cries of the smaller human broke the spirit from his state, as she cried at the lake's edge. Wanting to retrieve her brother, but not wanting the same fate either. So, not one for letting a soul suffer too long, the black hooded spirit sighed, and jumped into the water, not disturbing a single drop. Sinking to the bottom, the clothes made the trip quicker, until he was only a breathe away from the drowned boy. With a soft caress, the brunette boy's head fell back, the last of his air leaving his lungs. And, with that, his soul was revealed, a pale blue. Innocent and pure. Reaching out, the spirit was ready to take the human to where he belonged, somewhere safe and warm.

 _"_ _Death. Will you allow me to grant this boy another life?"_ As if the Man in the Moon punched the spirit, Death swallowed back the shame bubbling up. Death. What an awful name. Looking over the gentle features of the drowned boy, a decision sparked deep within Death's chest, and, with reluctance, Death instead gave the soul something, instead of taking it away.

"Fine. But, he should be rewarded for his life. Do not make him insignificant." That was Death's only request at the time, and with that, the hooded spirit floated to the top, the chill leaving his body as the water no longer surrounded every inch of the skin. Instead, Death took a deep breath, and sat on the bank of the lake, waiting.

Night had fallen before any there was any movement within the lake. It was much colder, much sadder than the cheery sun of day time. But, Death's mood would have been the same as he watched the almost impossible happen. The ice cracked, revealing startling white hair, and Death almost gasped. Almost. The not-so-human, rose under the moon's power. Until he was gently placed on his feet. Hm, unless the moon changed his gender when Jackson was brought to life again.

 _"_ _No. He is still a male child."_ The moon whispered, and Death sat back, the snow cushioning the spirit's body. The moon was Death's only companion, and companion was a big stretch. It was amazing to watch as the boy became aware of his surroundings. From finding his powers, as well as the familiar wooden staff. But, something was bugging the ancient spirit as he watched the boy fumble around. Why was he not sad? Why hadn't he begun searching for his family-… No.

"You made him forget." Death whispered, the truth creeping up in a cold chill. The white haired boy shot up in the air, discovering the wind capabilities of his powers. "You didn't let him remember who Jackson Overland was." It seemed like a cruel joke. All the others, the other spirits that Death let the Moon keep… they remembered who they were. They know, they remembered all the terrible things that happened to them. And the Moon didn't respond. At least, not to Death. Instead, the entity turned to the new spirit, as young as a small fawn, stumbling along like one too. And, Death heard him whisper the new name. The name that would be on Death's lips for a long time.

 _"_ _Jack Frost. You, are Jack Frost."_ It was final. The words spoken like law. And, that was how most of the spirits thought of Manny anyways. Like a god. Their ruler, their leader. And Death could admit that yes, it is good to have someone telling you what to do. But, there comes a day when mindless following is absurd, and that was where Death found themselves. Death was there before Manny. Before any of the spirits, and would be here long after, at least that was what they expected. Because they were the one that breathed life onto this planet and all the others. And Death was the one that had too take it away too.

That, was why Death couldn't stand themselves, and that was why Death had zero qualms against not being seen. They hated themselves, and the endings they brought. So, with a sad sigh, Death walked up to the laughing boy, who was having the time of his new life, and smiled sadly at him. With a gentle kiss, he kissed his hand, and imagined all the happiness and fun that he wanted this boy to experience, and pushed through the spirit's body. Placing it at his center, cause this was his meaning, his truth. The boy seemed to calm for a moment, and Death could have sworn the boy made eye contact for a split second. And then, after the boy looked away, Death let themself be swept away, following wherever the world needed the spirit the most.


	2. Chapter 2

Often times, when Death was truly bored, they sought out the company of the mischievous winter spirit. Jack Frost always had something clever to say, to do, or to even look. It was kinda cute as he watched the teenager fly around spreading joy. Of course, Jack had never seen Death, and never would. No one believed that Death was an entity. Just that they breathed and died. And every once in awhile, Manny prevented it. Manny had taught the spirits that he was the overlord. That he was their true creator.

Death didn't care all that much though. To be blamed for all the sadness after humans and animals alike died? It wasn't something they could handle, or want to for that matter. It was a truly dark part, the unknown. It wasn't unknown to the spirit, and didn't have any actual objections to where they moved on. But to be separated from your previous life, it was daunting. Or perhaps, that was just how the spirit felt, after all, they were never truly dead.

"Now. How's about a snowball fight?" Jack's voice broke Death from a daze, as he smiled, preparing to launch a snowball at an unsuspecting group of children. The boy smirked, and aimed carefully, hitting the shortest child right on the back of the head. Bursts and bursts of laughter followed, playful squeals, as well as declarations of war. Jack was in the middle of it, providing fast ammo, as well as targeting some of the faster kids who dodged more easily. The spirit watched on happily, hugging the black and white cape around themself.

The cold was just another sensation, not bothersome or wonderful. Just… there. But, there was something particular about winter as a season when this lively sprite was involved. There wasn't an air of hostility, or anger, or malice like many of the other spirits that claimed winter as their namesake. Sure, it was understandable, and Death didn't particularly hate any spirit, but it was hard for the lonely god to ignore Jack Frost.

Although, Nicholas St. North was another outlier. Or Santa Claus as his name has begun to evolve with the times. The man was merry, full of wonder towards everything and everyone. It was his own center, what made him a truly amazing protector and Guardian. Their center. That was what made them Guardian. When Death knelt down, and brightened their souls, and made them contagious.

A stray snowball nearly passed through Death, and had to duck as the children had started to run in his direction, running from Jack and a small girl who each held two snowballs. With a deep breath, they watched the light in the children's eyes. So full of life, and happiness. A small smile, and Death was gone.

**ROTG**

It was later that same year, when Death was at the North Pole. Christmas preparations were always exciting and entertaining. So much noise, yelling, and _life_. It was intoxicating. The Yeti were a formidable bunch, but when assigned the task of creating toys, it was almost laughable. Their huge frames somehow made toys perfectly, each with a child in mind. Their Yettish was still something Death was working on perfecting and understanding, but it was getting close to perfect.

"Shoo! Shoo! Out of way!" The huge spirit of Christmas came bustling through, checking in on projects, and scooting elves out of the way before he, or the Yeti crushed them. They were so tiny and fragile, but so dumb and cute at the same time. Death remembered creating them, one lonely day when it had just been North and Death.

**ROTG**

It was oddly calm in the air, and, it was unsettling. North St. Nicolas was working away, hammering at toys, and eating a cookie. But it was so silent. Death paused, then looked around. There had to be something to change. They hated the silence. Finally, their eyes fell on a few discarded pieces of felt. They had been cut from doll skirts, and he picked them up carefully. Ensuring that North wasn't looking, the spirit pulled together the scraps. They came together seamlessly, without sewing, forming into a cone shape. Death liked the shape. The Egyptians hadn't gotten it completely right when Death had drown out the plans, so these little things were going to sport the look. Carefully, Death picked up a couple of discarded bits. A broken candy cane, half of a cup of hot cocoa, a few buttons, a bell, and a few sparkles. And, it was ready. With a small grin, Death imagined the little beings, and created them with one breath.

North nearly jumped out of his seat when the first elf appeared. Only a few inches tall, the little thing had most of its height from its hat. But, it was cheery and happy, and made a noise like a bell when he talked. Finally, no more silence.

"Now who are you little one?" The man asked happily, weeks of stress had gadded from his shoulders as the bearded man knelt down and scooped up the elf. The green elf danced a little as he tried to talk, but North understood none of his words. He only laughed heartily and looked around the shop happily. Wonder had been restored in his heart, as he tried to find the location of where the elf had come from.

Five more elves were born that day, three of each gender. Or at least, Death thought so. Still confused on the whole gender thing. They knew that for species to survive, they had to have multiple species, except there were always exceptions. Which confused Death even more. So, he threw in features of all kinds. Unsure as to what exactly made them one gender or the next, Death just added a few different touches to each.

Death had left happily that day, a new creation under their belt, onto the next thing.


	3. Chapter 3

**A big thank you to those who have already begun reading the story! And especially to Archangel Writings for the first review! You all are awesome. And yes, Death will eventually be seen by other spirits, just gotta give you all a little more character on them.**

The gender-confused spirit grumbled to themselves as they sat at the long dinning room table. Sometimes, they really wanted to take back everything. Everything about being anonymous, about not taking the blame, about not being invisible. Like now for instance.

The Guardians, Toothiana, Sandman, The Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus were seated at a long dinning table, jovially conversing and eating. Sharing stories and memories, as they hadn't been all together in half a decade. Each were busy with their respective job, their holiday, everything. But, they made time for each other. That was something Death liked to see. It was strange to be at a table, and no one knew you were there. But, the table had room for six, so two places were left unset, but there was plenty of food for an army.

Only half listening to the spirits talk, Death looked down at the table. There were an array of silly gag gifts, they were celebrating an anniversary of being the Guardians. So, here sat little jokes from the group. So, while they weren't looking, Death pocketed some of the trinkets. A few old golden coins were laid out, a currency long forgotten, but the Tooth fairy must have had some still.

A chocolate egg went into a bag next, each had beautiful wrapping protecting the sweet. Their wrappers were each beautifully painted and designed. E. Aster Bunny claimed that they were made of pure hope, it would give the consumer hope and happiness.

Next, came a glass figure of a human dancing. Sandy's dream sand had been heated excessively, until they turned to glass, a dream stuck in a moment. The figurine was one of perhaps twenty, and wouldn't be missed, so, the glass dancer went into the cloth bag.

And last, but certainly not least, enchanted music boxes. They were small, more than a hundred were spread out, and North had claimed they were plans for presents coming up, so he wanted to know what his fellow Guardians thought. There was one, it was hundreds of shades of colors at once, and it sparkled in the fading sun. And, Death couldn't hep but snatch that one.

"Oh, did you hear about the rumors again?" Tooth asked, smiling, while relaying information off to different tiny fairies. And, that was when Death felt like truly dying. This happened one in a while, and it left the spirit sick to their stomach.

"Oh, not the bloody grimm reaper thing again!" Aster frowned, hungrily chewing on a carrot as he frowned. "There isn't a spirit that would drag you to your death. That's just stupid. We're here to make 'em happy." Death hung their head in shame, kicking the air. Too short for the boots to reach the ground.

Across the table, Sandy was laughing, and symbols of agreement went up over the creature's head. The only reason Death knew for sure that Sandy was male, was that he went by SandMAN. Unless, that was supposed to be a human joke… hmm. Maybe Manny would tell him. That would be on their next conversation, Death nodded as writing a mental checklist.

"Do not forget about cake!" North yelled happily, changing the subject, and Death was glad to hear the subject change. The Guardians were nice enough, after all, Death chose them to be strong enough for a reason. But to laugh at the thought of Death's existence. That hurt. So, with a small sigh, Death stood up, and jumped out of the open window, looking up at the sky.

"Manny. Old friend. Could we talk? I'm kind of feeling lonely at the moment." Death sighed. Admitting it was the hardest part, that was for sure, but, it had been a few years since there had any sort of two sided conversation, so came the desperate feeling.

Waiting… waiting. No answer.

"Manny. Please. I need to talk to you." Voice breaking, Death mumbled, not wanting to accept the fact. "Please, don't ignore me." Falling to their knees, tears pricked at the edge of the spirit's eyes, as they looked up to the moon. Not again. Please, not again.

There was silence, only silence, and that was when the dam broke. Death cried, truly cried that night. Curled up in a snow drift, back to the moon as all of the overwhelming emotions were let out.

It was worse than the beginning, worse that when Death had been truly alone, nothing else. Because then, then Death had created things, and there wasn't any more loneliness. But, Manny was choosing to ignore him?

Within the Santa's workshop, the yeti, the Guardians, and even the elves heard a pain filled shriek. It sounded so lonely, so sad, so upset, but, when the group went to check, they found no one, only a discarded wrapper of one of Aster's candies.

**ROTG**

Over the next few years, some things would disappear from the Guardians' homes. Nothing big or important, and barely noticeable. Like, one afternoon, Bunny had been trying out new recipes for chocolate. By the end of the cooking session, the Spring spirit could have sworn that he had made another full batch of the hope filled candies, but brushed it off as his own mistake. Meanwhile, Death walked back to their den, chocolates in hand.

They were small things, that the Guardians had forgotten about. Nothing that they needed, or would remember for years to come. But, for Death? They were a saving grace. And, the items is what made up the spirit's home.

Somewhere, deep in the mountains of Europe, a cave was brightly lit. Ever burning candles sat on surfaces, a nest of sorts was tucked away in one corner, made up of old, cast away blankets and furs. There were a few shelves that were filled with Death's most important treasures. A pair of ice skates, hand made hung from a nail. An old snow globe sat on the shelf, next to some well loved dolls and stuffed animals. An assortment of pressed flowers and plants, along with potted plants, ones that have been long extinct.

"Oh, hello there." Death murmured, smiling as a small firefly landed right in front of the Spirit. It flashed a few times, and it was beautiful to see other fireflies respond around the den. "You truly are wonderful." Speaking in awe, Death gently urged the insect onto their palm, inspecting the beautiful wings. Still in awe as the firefly flew away, the spirit imagined the design of the insect. Wordlessly to the fireflies around the spirit, the figure cupped their hands together, and a bright blue light flashed, and suddenly, there were twice as many fireflies, and half of them had blue lights.

Death fell asleep like that, with the little twinkles floating around, calming the lonely spirit.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack Frost was clearly lonely. Death watched from afar as the spirit skated on his pond. It was strange, and oddly poetic to find Frost here more than any other place. The frozen pond, it hadn't thawed in over 300 years, even in the midst of summer. But the adults kept their children from playing on it any other time beside in the dead of winter. There was an old tale of a child who had fallen in and drowned, all in Burgess kept away from the pond unless it was below freeing for a week straight.

This was Jack's home, or the closest thing to it. The winter spirit was a wanderer, and went wherever the wind happened to take him. But, he had no believers. None. It was something that Death found themselves clinging to Frost more often. They were kindred spirits, or at least, they wanted to imagine Jack had some sort of connection to the god. That perhaps Death could be just as happy as the white haired boy.

Raising the scope higher, Death focused on the skater, aiming to get the perfect shot. And with a small click, the moment was captured, never to be forgotten. The Spirit had quickly grown fond of the human device, something called a camera. Taking a moment, Death took the photo in hand, shaking it until it fully revealed the image.

It was beautiful. The frozen look of happiness and carefree. Snow was glinting in the sunlight, the evergreen trees behind Jack were coated in a soft blanket, creating the perfect illusion of a winter wonderland. No wonder Jack favored this place.

A sudden coolness spread in the Spirit's stomach, who frowned and looked down. A sad sigh left their lips, and stood calmly. With one last glance at Jack Frost, Death called on his power, and quickly found himself in a human house.

The humans seemed to be trapped in a single moment. Instead, it was Death. It was the end of the human week, the time that was set aside for bringing spirits to the next step. Traveling so fast, it happened in a single moment.

Lying in a bed, an old woman was looking around her, slightly confused, until her gaze fell onto the darkly dressed Spirit. She already was looking healthier, much healthier than she had been for the past few years, and she was in a lot less pain as well.

"Mrs. Lopez. Would you please take my hand?" There didn't seem to be any resignation in her eyes, only a small amount of sadness. But under that? Acceptance. Death held out their hand, smiling calmly and reassuringly to the old woman. It was her time. It was eventual deaths like these that passed quicker. Where nothing could have been done to avoid it. But, like Jackson and his sister, well...

She slowly reached out, surprised at her own strength, and her warm hand met Death's cool palm. With a brave face, she sat up and for the first time in months, stood on her own.

"Thank you young man." Mrs. Lopez whispered, tears in her eyes. Silently, Death nodded, gesturing to the portal he had opened. A bright, yellow light awaited the woman, and she turned to the Spirit, question in her eyes.

"Will I see my husband?" Instead of answering, Death pulled on the long since passed on soul of Mr. Lopez, and he appeared in the light, waving slightly.

"Oh, thank you miss. I knew you would bring my wife to me." Rodger Lopez looked to be nearly in tears as his wife approached him, and as they hugged, the light disappeared into a million sparkles.

A happy ending, the reunions were always better than separating souls. Especially those that had a special bond like these two. But, going over what the couple had said, Death looked down at their own body, pulling at the cloak.

Female or male? With a shrug, Death focused on the next soul, one of thousands that they would cater to. It was their job after all, their passion. Seeing happy faces were better than the sad. While gender certainly didn't matter, or at least it didn't matter to the Spirit, all the humans seemed to be oddly concerned on the fact.

**ROTG**

Biting into the newly stolen stash of chocolate, Death kicked their feet while watching the ground below. Frowning, they didn't like what they were seeing. Pitch Black, the subject of many fears and worries in the human realm.

The cloaked Spirit knew it was necessary to be afraid sometimes, but, they couldn't help but feel awful for the severity Pitch caused. Humans had even given him a name, the Boogeyman. And in severe cases of fear, children matured too quickly and stopped believing.

The creation of Pitch had been difficult, and clearly it hadn't been perfect either. He was simply too hungry for attention. Like now, Death didn't like what the dark spirit was doing.

Trapped in a glass jar, was a specimen of Sandman's sand. Shaking it all about, growling at the sand, shouting. And slowly, a dark tint took to the dream. A startled crack, and a half formed dark dream had been formed.

Taking a moment to bite into another chocolate marvel, the hope was savored and memorized. It was just so good, although the chocolates of 1943 were better than these. Then, once again turned to see Pitch.

Laughing maniacally, he chased the slowly forming sand, as it slowly took the form of a horse, and before long, Pitch was riding the thing.

"At least a Nightmare." Voice deadly serious, Pitch seemed incredibly proud of his accomplishment. But, Death tried to understand.

"That is what the humans call a pun, right? Cause horse... mare? And why Sandy's sand?" Pitch didn't answer, of course not. So, Death lifted the camera, and snapped a photo. "Are you seeing this Manny?"


	5. Chapter 5

India was truly beautiful, especially this time of year, and if Death was feeling quiet, the Tooth Palace was the perfect place to sit and take it in. Millions of children's memories floated around, memories of bright, happy childhoods. Of dreams and hopes, of far fetched happenings, and they all seemed within grasp for children. They were truly the best part of the human race.

Not to mention the fairies! They were astounding, and it was based off of a bee hive, that Death created the tooth hive. Toothiana, queen of the fairies protected the memories and knew exactly what to do, her little fairies carried out the orders, cause it was impossible to keep up with the growing population of the earth.

Although, as Death thought about it, population was beginning to level off again, so perhaps Tooth could jump into the field again. She hadn't done so in more than 400 years. Thinking over that for a moment, Death watched, the glimmer in her eyes never left, the happiness she had for her role was pure. Death had chosen the right Tooth Fairy.

Just as Death's mind wandered to Cupid, (after all, the Valentine's spirit was acting rather strange lately, and Death was wondering if the spirit was going to go on another spree of beauty on outside instead of in) the fairies began whispering.

"My Queen! Look, it's the Northern Lights!" At the exact same moment, Death and Toothiana looked to the sky, and sure enough, it was a signal from North himself. Wait… Death thought over it again… picking at the cloak on their shoulders… was North a male human. Or… maybe female. There was that big fur coat, and Death could have sworn that was a mortal female trend statement nowadays. Although, there were tattoos, but then again, as women gained more independence they got tattoos too.

Stuck in their musings, Tooth was long gone by the time Death had decided that being at that Guardian meeting would be important. So, standing up, the dark spirit watched the ebb and flow of the small tooth fairies, easily placing a tooth away before heading right back out with some sort of currency.

***ROTG***

As tempting as taking the scenic route to the pole, Death was worried. Pitch had been planning something, and if this was about the Boogeyman, it couldn't have been good. With a sad sigh, Death pictured the view of the mountains they were going to have to forsake over fast travel. With a quick blink, the dark spirit stood right in front of North's globe.

North was running around, driving the Yeti crazy, and the elves didn't know what was happening. Death smiled and bent down, faintly rubbing over the newly designed outfits of the elves. Recently they must have changed to red garments instead of green, possibly to better match with North.

The tooth fairy arrived first, followed by Bunny, then Sandy. All relatively together at the same time.

"Hm. Do you time that out? Like, did you have practice runs?" Death asked, slightly amused. They were getting so set in their ways, Death could predict quite a bit. Deciding to use the brand new camera that Death may have picked up from the malfunctioning bin of North's workshop, they put the camera up to their face and grinned. "Smile."

"There was black sand covering the globe-" North began, and while it was a truly troubling statement, he made a hilarious expression, so Death couldn't help but snatch a picture.

"Perfect. It really captured your beard well in that one." Shaking out the pictures were their favorite part, even if modern day they could print without, Death had a hard time beating that system.

"Wha- what do you mean, 'black sand'?" Bunny was multitasking painting eggs, seeing as Easter was arriving in only a few days, it was crunch time. Speaking of the globe, there was something off about it. Taking that chance, Death ignored the laws of physics and jumped up to the globe, running their hands along the lights of the believers.

"Fear. There is so much fear in their hearts." Mumbling to themself, Death tried to send each light a little more happiness as the inspection continued. The children needed to keep believing. Not only for the Guardians' sake, but the rest of the children.

A loud ringing noise brought Death's attention back to the group, particularly Sandy, who looked very frustrated. He wasn't able to speak… a flaw in the designs of stars if you had to ask Death, but since stars were made without the intent to become a childhood protector, it made it difficult to put in a voice box, especially when you are made of sand.

Following the star's arrow, Death faltered at the appearance of the Man in the Moon, right in the window. In less than a second, which was already too long, Death was gone from he North Pole, and instead teleported back to their home.

In the corner, Death was sobbing. Tears tracked down the pale cheeks, and the spirit tried and failed to hide their face. Death might have been alone, but that didn't extinguish the fear and shame rotting within.

 _"Death. Why do you follow my spirits around?"_ It had been a simple question. But Manny hadn't spoken to Death in over a century, and there was just an air of annoyance in the Moon's voice. And, Death had to turn that question inwards. Why? Why would Death surround themselves with people who refuse to look, to see? Why, especially when they have denied the existence of Death, why put up with this torture?

Pulling a yellow and pink blanket to hide the tears, Death forced shaky breaths out. The blanket was so soft, focus on that. Time seemed to stop, or maybe speed up. Did it matter for an immortal? Pushing the cloth against the tears, the spirit recalled the one who gave the blanket to them.

It had been a small girl, a sick one. Even the modern medicine couldn't save her, and she passed. And, she had commented on how cold Death had looked. _"Excuse me. But, you need this more than I do."_ No matter how many memories Death conjured, they were alone. Utterly alone. Death never could find someone else to speak with, humans could only see the reaper when as they passed on. No spirits. None of Death's creations. And for the first time in almost a decade, Death fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

The moment Death awoke again, they knew something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. And then, then it came to mind. Sandman. And it all splayed out in the forefront of Death's mind. Pitch was about to kill the Sandman. The Guardian of Dreams. And Death couldn't do anything about that. Nonetheless, the spirit closed their eyes, and let themselves be pulled to the impending end of dreams.

Death. The end. A horrible, terrible thing, and the spirit wanted nothing more than to never collect the soul. So, as the events played out, they mourned the coming end. The island of golden sand was surrounded by the push and pull of nightmares. And, Death couldn't help but admire the beauty of the situation. It was horrible, devastating, and depressing. But it was beautiful, something to be in awe over. The good dreams trying to chase away the bad. The last guard against fear. This was inspiring, and before it could turn for the worse, Death raised the camera.

"Behind you." It was nothing more than a whisper. As Pitch pulled back on the bow string, aiming, Death let themselves float closer, balancing on the wind.

Jack Frost wouldn't be able to save this one. He could only sacrifice himself so many times. Then, the dam broke. True, pure fear took over Sandman's face, shot in the back. The aim of a coward. Standing no further than ten feet from the star, Death took out a vial.

No way. This wouldn't be the end. It couldn't be. It wasn't allowed to end. Carefully coaxing a tablespoon of golden sand into the glass bottle, Death made up their mind.

Under the glow of the silver moon, Sandman felt a surge of courage take over his body. It was like nothing he had ever felt. Pure courage, something he didn't think he could ever feel at a moment like this. But there it was, battling the fear, and while it was one of his last moments. In that case, Sandman straightened his posture, and accepted the end.

Raising their hand as the nightmares over took Sandy, Death absorbed the golden soul, which settled deep in Death's heart. At the feeling, the spirit breathed in deeply, and pure white wings exploded from their back.

"Hm. I suppose I forgot about you." Sandman was gone, and, the dreams went with him. Although... Death watched wearily as the other Guardians reacted to Sandy's violent end. Jack in particular was upset, and in a strange, unexpected power play, Jack fought off Pitch. "Nicely done Jack." Death whispered, and turned away from the Guardians. There was something that needed to be done.

**ROTG**

Finding themselves in the den, Death took the chance to hang up the newest pictures, and, already, the Spirit could feel belief fading because of the loss of Sandman. Silver eyes traced over the pictures, and with a small grin Death let their power extend.

The truth was… Death had given that power away long ago. Sandman had received Death's powers over dreams, but now to have them back, the spirit hoped to keep belief up long enough to stand a chance. For the Guardians to gain power again. Easter was approaching, and that would be the perfect opportunity.

Until then, however, all of their power would be put into dream control and controlling the fine line of death to life. Not enough time to wander the earth, or even help the Guardians spread hope in Easter… no matter. They could manage it. Frost was now even more powerful, and would be fine against Pitch, right?

**ROTG**

Somewhere, deep in the heart of the North Pole, the remaining Guardians were mourning over the loss of the golden Guardian. None were aware of the silver streams of dreams passing over the earth. They may not have been as concentrated of dreams as Sandman's, but Death's? They were beautiful, images of the world filled children's dreams. The different levels of Santa's workshop, portraits of children happy, the marvelous artwork of the Tooth palace. They kept the nightmares at bay.

The winged spirit felt it when Easter went awry. A pain bloomed in Death's chest, awakening them from the partial sleep, so they could continuously keep souls moving, and dreamers dreaming. So much disappointment, so much sadness, and just, disbelief. It was much different than when a few children at a time grew out of belief.

It was so strong, that they fell over, out of the meditative pose, coughing. The earth was loosing the purest form of energy, and fast. Children's innocence and beliefs, they were drying up. And, there was nothing Death could do about that, because while yes, dreams were made, they weren't nearly as vivid or wonderful as Sandy's.

It was a little while later, that Death could stand again. It was perhaps a few hours later, and, there were only seven believers. Seven. All in one location. Recalling what was there, Death smiled. This was where Jack Frost's home was, and all seven of those children, had a new spirit they believed in.

"Oh Jack. You have believers." It was a little hope in the darkness, and, not going to lie, Death was slightly impressed. The children had enough dreams between them, that Sandy's soul was pulsing.

A millisecond later, Death was in Burgess. Golden sand had begun to form, floating around the children, and very quickly, dreams began filling the world. The kind that took hundreds of years to perfect. Each child looked so happy, interacting with the Guardians of Childhood.

Death stood atop a hill, cradling the golden soul. Surrounded by the believers, they called the black sand and changed it back to good. Making the golden sand to surround them, the image of the Guardian filled Death's mind, and carefully crafted him. This was the second time, but, no change to Sandy occurred. Why change something already good? Far away, Pitch was readying a swipe at Jack.

"Hmm. Protect Jack." Whispering, planting the idea into Sandy's head, Death hoped it would take. And, just like that, a golden lasso easily clasped over the boogeyman's arm, stopping him from killing another Guardian.

Pitch's arm would have been pulled out of its socket it (if it were possible) as Sandy yanked him away, and the other Guardians followed, mouths agape in amazement. The winged spirit stood back, smiling. Watching Pitch get beat up by the protector of Dreams. Serves him right, after all, he had stolen the sand. Wait… Pitch wore a dress, is Pitch a girl? Hm…

The Sandman began spreading sand around the globe, and Death sat back and smiled. And just like that, belief began flickering on once more. Dreams of all sized were conjured, floating and spreading hope, wonder, dreams, and joy once more.

Jack Frost had a grin of mischief take over his face, and carefully aimed a snowball at Jaime Bennet. The group was quickly immersed in the snowball fight, chasing each other and laughing. So much so, that when North was hit with a snowball, Death was swept up in the fun and knelt down, forming a snowball of their own.

Jack Frost had it coming. He weaved in and out of the children, easily missing every throw, so, Death took a step back, and let it fly. Hitting their mark, Death giggled. Not so bad for a first snowball fight, huh?

"Woot! Got ya." Cheering, Death picked up the camera hanging from their neck, and snapped a picture. Only, when the camera was once again lowered, crystal blue eyes were staring right back.


	7. Chapter 7

**So, a quick AN from me, thank you so much for all of your support, especially the favs and follows! PS, there's a poll on my profile, regarding update times and lengths. I'm wondering if i should stick to updating every 2/3 days, or should i space them out more, with longer chapters? -Z**

They could have been standing there for hours, and Death would have no idea. Because Jack was definitely looking right into their eyes, Jack saw Death. What do you even do in that situation? Taking a shaky breath, even though the spirit certainly didn't need to breathe, and faltered, stepping backwards.

"Woah. Hey, no need to be afraid." But there was every need to be afraid, at least, that's what it felt like. What would they even say? What would the Guardians think? After all, Death only brought sadness where ever they went, bringing the end of all things.

"You... you see me?" And with a slow blink, Death was gone.

**ROTG**

Now, Jack Frost may be a lot of things, but crazy wasn't one of them. After making sure Jaime and his friends made it back to their houses safely, Jack let North take them all back to his workshop before confronting them.

"Okay, hold up. Who was that exactly?" Jack asked, spinning his staff around. Yes, he wanted to take in the grand feeling of being a guardian, and being believed in even more. But, that kid... sounded just like himself last night with Jaime. But, Jack was a spirit?

"Who was who?" North asked curiously, "Phil, pour drinks." The yeti followed obediently, although what sounded like curses could be heard if you listened closely.

"That kid! The one with wings, and a camera!" They couldn't have missed him. Huge, white wings, not like Tooth's, but bird-like wings. Huge, feathery bird wings, pure white, the color of freshly fallen snow. The kid, Jack thought she looked like a girl, but wasn't sure, had short raven hair, and silver eyes. Her figure was hidden by a cloak, and she had a permanent blush on her face it looked like, showing off the freckles dotting her cheeks.

"Jack, are you feeling alright?" Tooth asked concerned, flying over, and just to make sure, she took his face in her hands, examining his teeth. Had to double check that those beauties weren't damaged!

"Yes I'm alright, but who was that?" Sandy conjured up a question mark, meanwhile Bunny was looking at Jack like he had grown a second head.

"Look mate, it's been a long few days, just, go on and rest up. It's spring anyways, no snow needed, and its fall down south, chill out." Any other time, Jack would have laughed at the pun, especially coming from Bunny, but how did they not see her?

"During the snowball fight, before the whole last stand with Pitch. She was standing there, had white wings, and was taking a picture of us. And then… she asked me, 'You can see me?'" North looked troubled, and looked around to his fellow Guardians, while Jack wanted to shout in frustration.

"I know all spirits. None have white wings." North frowned, and passed out cups of eggnog, with a few starry eyed elves watching, waiting for an opening to steal them. "Is nothing Jack, take a break, celebrate!" North cheerily hugged Bunny, who scoffed at the idea and tried to get out of the man's strong grip.

For the moment, Jack let himself forget about the strange person he had seen. Tonight, after tonight Jack would put every second into finding out just who they were. For now, he would enjoy messing with the elves and Yeti.

**ROTG**

That night, Jack was relaxing in a tree, and his mind wandered over what exactly had happened. He had been chasing Jaime and the other children when suddenly, he was hit with a snowball. Even in his mind, the replay was dramatic. Slowed down, he remembered turning to the figure. She held up a camera, or perhaps he, whoever it was, they could be either. And, after taking a picture, they lowered the camera, staring shocked right back at Jack.

There were quite a few spirits in the world, but, Jack didn't recognize this one. There was the normal aura of power coming off of them that a spirit let off. Not to mention, she completely disappeared.

His mind flashed back to only yesterday, or early this morning, when Jaime had seen him. His first believer. He was only seen because Jaime finally believed, and the moment he told Sophie, and the other children, they believed too, and saw him. If that was the case… did he recently start believing in something?

Mind scanning everything that had happened in the last couple days, there was a lot to think over. It was a huge whirlwind of excitement. Going from the lonely winter spirit, to a Guardian, he believed that Manny was crazy, but that really wasn't all that new.

The forest around him was quiet, and it was driving him slightly crazy. Let's say that perhaps there are spirits out there, that no one can see because even their fellow spirits don't believe. They would be even more lonely than Jack felt, and it hurt his heart. Looking back at his time on earth, well, his time as a spirit. At least he could see and speak with other spirits. If he was forced to never communicate with anyone… it sounded horrible.

If that was true, Jack _had_ to find this spirit. Who knows how long they've been a spirit without being able to talk to someone? He couldn't imagine, even just thinking about it, the only reason he didn't go completely nuts after coming back to life, was that he found a spring spirit who scolded him for bringing an early blizzard.

Wait. That was what happened recently. He got his memories back, he discovered that he had been _dead._ Jack jumped out of the tree, letting the wind catching him, he knew who this was.

**ROTG**

Death was having a mini freak out. Sitting atop the Eiffel Tower, they looked out over Paris. Jack Frost. Jack Frost saw them. They made eye contact, that was for sure. Right now, he was probably telling all the other Guardians that Death was following them around, probably spreading disease and sadness as they went.

Swallowing back a sob, Death cradled the picture. It was the first picture, the first amongst thousands, that the subject was looking right at the camera. Jack's blue eyes stared right into Death's, and, they were finally seen.

Is this what being seen feels like? Scared and trepidation? But below all of that, there a was tiny glimmer of hope. What if. What if Jack decided to just have a conversation with them before completely ignoring them from now on. What if Jack wanted to talk in the future? And… what if, Jack didn't hate Death?

So wrapped up in thoughts, day turned to night, and a small cold front followed the moon. One by one, the small twinkling lights popped up around the city, casting it in a warm glow. It was peaceful, and part of Death just wanted to sit there and gawk at the city for eternity. To face what had happened? They couldn't do that. Why couldn't it have gone on forever, where people didn't see them?

"You asked if I could see you." Jumping nearly three feet in the air, they spun around, eyes wide, because, there was Jack Frost. He held his arms out in a peaceful manner, eyes kind. "And I can. Definitely. I'm so sorry it took me this long to see you. But, you were there that night, the night I became Jack Frost?" Death stood, nodding meekly, already, Jack was going to be angry. "Well, it's nice to meet you. My name is Jack Frost, and, you're Life, right?"

**ROTG**

High above Paris, and the Earth in general, the Man in the Moon smiled sadly. It had taken him much too long to realize what he had done to the spirit. The hurt that came from the dark haired spirit every time Manny addressed them as 'Death'. But, one thing he didn't miss, the longing look that took over the spirit's face around other spirits, especially the Guardians, and most of all, Jack Frost.


	8. Chapter 8

"What?" Death was utterly confused, was this some kind of sick joke? Jack just smiled, a welcoming smile, and inched closer to them, as if approaching a scared animal.

"I'm so sorry, no one has seen you yet, right? Except me?" Jack was closer, maybe about a yard away. His smile was pure white, surely something that Toothiana would be obsessed with. Death shrunk back on themselves, heart beating out of their chest. Not trusting their voice, Death nodded. Jack's face held a certain emotion, he looked guilty and sad, but that couldn't be it. "And, you've been around here for awhile. At least 300 years." Death shrugged, looking down at the ground. "Hey, can I at least know your name?" Jack was closer, a safe amount for friends to be apart when in a conversation. He looked so hopeful, so, better to break that hope now.

"Manny calls me Death." All of the air left them as suddenly, Jack was _hugging_ Death. The first contact… ever. They were crying before Death even knew what was happening. With fear of rejection, the black haired spirit leaned into the touch, and hugged Jack in return.

Jack felt so cold, but a good kind of cold, the kind that woke you up, the kind that you felt on the first day of winter. So, Death didn't mind as they hugged the winter spirit. The blue hoodie was so soft, and without permission, Death buried their face into Jack's sweater.

"I don't care what he calls you. He only has ever talked to me once, I don't give him much credit. What do you call yourself? What is your true name?" It was a good question… did Death have a name before Manny?

"I don't have one. I've always just been me." Jack broke their hug, and looked Death straight in the silver eyes.

"Well. You're not Death. I refuse to believe that. I think… I think you're Life. You brought Sandy back, right? That's the complete opposite of Death." Frozen at his words, they didn't believe him.

"You really believe that?" Fidgeting with the lens of their camera. "It's just, I've honestly thought that was my name, my purpose." Jack got a determined look on his face, that mischievous glint shined in his eyes.

"No way. That's not possible. And, I'll prove it to you. Come on, take my hand." Death, or more rather, Life? took Jack's hand. The winter spirit twirled his staff, and suddenly, they were in the air, the wind holding them up. Unable to resist laughing, their laughter filled the air, it was such a wonderful feeling, and Jack echoed their laughter.

They shot off, heading west. It was different than any time the dark haired spirit flew by themselves. This time, it felt like they were truly alive, wind rushing past.

"This is so amazing. Now, I know why you're always flying." Completely in awe, Death was drunk on laughter, watching the human world pass under them at high speeds.

"You're telling me that you have wings, but you never fly like this?" Jack Frost laughed heartily, unbelieving. "Gotta get out and live a little Life." He winked, and if it was even possible, they shot off even faster, and both screamed in excitement.

Before long, Jack let up on the wind, and they floated down to a familiar frozen lake. Still laughing, Death couldn't believe that this was happening. They didn't even think it was possible to laugh like this.

"Alright, stay here, for twenty minutes. I'll be right back." Jack watched his newest friend. Life. Their cheeks were rosy, eyes alight with fun, something that the Guardian of Fun recognized as something that was severely lacking in the other spirit. "Here, pinky promise. It's something the kids do, now you can't break that promise, and neither can I." Jack made sure to pour as much sincerity into the words as he could. Before walking backwards.

"Why can't I come with you?" No doubt, Jan would be afraid too if they switched places, no one could see her, and the only person that could was leaving.

"It's a surprise! Just wait here." And, Jack shot off, his goal was to be back in five minutes now instead. Luckily Jaime lived nearby, so, he shot up over the fence and peered into Jaime's window. The kids were still on their Easter Break, and for once, Jack was thankful for Bunny.

The kid's room was filled with drawings of the guardians, but no Jaime. Then, perhaps they were in the town square playing. He pulled back on letting snow fall, instead, flew around trying to spot the familiar band of kids. And sure, enough, down below, he spotted seven children, all playing what looked like tag.

"Hey, kiddos!" Jack grinned, landing. It was a good feeling, to have these kids actually see him, and he wanted Life to have the same.

"Jack!" They all shouted excitedly, swarming him, and Jaime even hugged him. "What are you doing here? Do we get another snow day?" The eldest Bennett laughed, eyes wide with excitement.

"Oh, can we have another snowball fight?" Monty asked, the usual grin on his face almost had Jack caving.

"Not quite guys. See, I was wondering if you could do me a favor." Slowly, he began walking back towards the pond, and the kids followed him without question, eyes wide with happiness. God, he loved this.

"Anything!" Pippa exclaimed, and laughed as Sophie was pulling on Jack's sweater, smiling and jumping excitedly.

"Jack. Jack. Snowwww." She squealed, her grin wide.

"Haha guys. Thanks guys! Now, you know how you could only see me when you believed?" They all nodded, and they stopped at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to allow them to cross. "See, I recently met another spirit, just like me. No one can see them."

"Well, we'll believe!" Cupcake exclaimed, crossing her arms indignantly. Smiling at her, Jack was so glad he pulled this girl into this friend group, she was awesome.

"Yeah! Just tell us who they are!" Grinning, Caleb began looking around, as if he could already spot them.

"Well, they're the Spirit of Life, they were the one that brought Sandy back to life! They have these huge, white wings, and has a black coat. They also have this camera that they take pictures of everything with." Their eyes went wide, and smiles even wider, as if they were let in on the world's biggest secret. But, perhaps they were.

"No way! That's epic! Girl or boy spirit? Or maybe an animal like Bunny?" Jamie yelled, dancing around. They were getting closer to the lake, and Jack couldn't wait to see the look on Life's face.

"Not sure kiddo. They're human. But, they could be either. I haven't asked yet." Turning the corner, Jack spotted the now familiar figure, standing on the shore of the frozen lake.

"Pretty!" The small voice broke Death from their thoughts, and turned around, expecting to see a human child playing with a butterfly or something. But, there, right in front of the spirit, was a young human, hair blonde, and smiling, holding their hands out to Death, and in the back of their mind, Death was trying to determine if it was female or male.

"Woahhh! Jack, you were right!" More voices came, and Death was surrounded by seven children, with an amused Jack Frost following. "It's nice to meet you Life! I'm Jaime Bennett, and this is my sister Sophie!"

"Your wings are sooo cool. I'm Monty by the way."

"And I'm Pippa!"

"My name's Caleb, I believed in you first."

"No way. I did! I'm Claude."

"And My name is Cupcake!"

"Pretty!" So overwhelmed, Life had no idea what to do, other than to pull all the kids into a hug. Human contact. Breathing in deeply, Life may have cried a little, savoring the feeling.

"It is so nice to meet you all." And, that was the truth. Because as they pulled away, their eyes all shined in wonder and joy, looking at the lonely spirit.

"Hey, you wanna play tag with us?" Jack proposed, and suddenly, there were six kids all pulling on Life's cloak begging them to play, and Sophie was busy pretending to have wings, and was running around.

Watching in amusement, Jack was happy to see the spirit now had some believers, his next step was to make sure that the Guardians believed in them next.


	9. Chapter 9

Jack was on a mission. He was going to do whatever it takes to get Life recognized by all spirits. Now four days after Easter, the winter spirit hoped that his friends would believe him when he said that he needed to talk.

"North, what could possibly be wrong?" Bunny was the last to arrive, and he looked to be incredibly grumpy. Arms crossed, eyes narrowed. Jack couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up.

"It was not me. Jack used Lights. Said 'big news'." North shrugged, pointing to Jack, who was sitting on the curve of his staff, watching his friends. They were all gathered in front of the big fireplace in North's shop, tucked away from the hussle and bussle of the Yeti running around.

"So, Jack, what's wrong?" Toothiana asked, she was clearly worried for Jack, she was fond of the mischievous spirit, and at the moment it was taking a lot of self restraint to check his teeth. Jack took a deep breath, he had no idea how to start.

"Would it be possible, for us, to _not_ be able to see a spirit, because we aren't aware that they exist? That…because we don't believe in them, they are just as invisible to us, as we are to non-believers?" The others frowned, looking at Jack like he was insane.

"That wouldn't happen mate. Manny tells the whole spirit world when there is a new Spirit. We know of everyone." Aster shot back. Sandy conjured up a bunch of symbols, but they wee moving too fast to decipher. Nervously, he took out the six photos that Life had given him.

Life was hesitant to part with them, they were part of a collection that they carried around at all times. But, Jack promised to return them. He had left Life behind, not trusting of what his friends might say about not existing before he convinced the Guardians.

"I know it's possible, and… in fact, it has happened." Looking at the pictures, it made Jack realize just how lonely they made this spirit. He only passed them off after looking at them once more. His friends remained silent, waiting to see what Jack held.

The first one, it was the oldest of the pictures Jack held. It was yellow at the edges, but the photo was too important to ignore. It was North. He sat at his desk, carving an ice sculpture. An elf had its tongue stuck to the surface, and the big man was laughing heartily. On the bottom, written in loopy handwriting, _remember how true the laugh was? Gotta make North laugh like that again. 1958._

Passing it off, he smiled at the next one. It was of Tooth. It was something Jack had only heard of, the hatching of her fairies. She held a rainbow colored egg, one that rivaled even Aster's. The top had fallen off, revealing the tiny head of a new fairy. The picture was up close and personal, maybe only a few feet away from Tooth's face, who looked enchanted by the event. Her lavender eyes sparkled. _Gotta be around for more hatchings. Not just creating the eggs. 1962._

The next one featured Sandman. It was during a meteor shower, the star sat atop his normal cloud of sand, just looking up. Shooting stars streaked the sky, it was a beautiful cloudless night. _Do you think Sandman misses being one of them? I'm sorry I took you away. 1963._

Aster was in the next one. His eyes were full of surprise, he had been caught by a kid. The kid's eyes glinted with so much happiness and excitement, mouth open in shock. The rabbit had a basket of eggs, his ears in a position that reminded Jack of embarrassment. _Sorry Aster. Didn't mean to wake the kid up. I'll be more careful next time. 1981._

It was his pond. The next picture featured Jack, skating atop his lake, frozen in a single moment. Snowing lightly, he remembered that day. He had been walked through by a few adults, he hadn't been paying attention. So, to get his mind off of it, he was skating. _Are you as lonely as I am? 1999._

And, the last one. It was simple. Just a picture of the full moon, with a pale hand reaching out to try and touch it. _Why don't you talk to me anymore? Why won't any of them see me? I know I'm a monster, but it's so lonely. 2002._

As the pictures went around, he watched as their faces morphed from confusion, to anger, to horror, then sadness. They were all silent until all the pictures had been passed around.

"This isn't a joke, is it Jack?" Tooth looked at him, begging for him to say it was. Part of himself wanted it to be some stupid prank, to not even think that this spirit had no one. Invisible to all.

"No." Jack looked through the pictures once more, eyes lingering on the one of him. Who knows how often Life sat there, talking to him, and he never knew. "That was who I saw the other night. After Pitch. I think, that after I recovered my memories. After I… saw how I became a Guardian, it made sense for Life to be a spirit. The spirit of Life and Death." Tucking the pictures away, Jack didn't want to look at them anymore. As he met the other's eyes, confusion grew. They all looked from one to the other, horror on their faces.

"Spirit of life and death?" North asked, forehead crinkled made him look another ten years older.

"They don't have a name. Manny gave the name of Death, but, the brought Sandy back t life, so, I think maybe the spirit of both?" The older spirits looked from one to another, uneasy in their posture. "What?"

"I… I think we've known about this spirit before. But, wrote it off as a human myth." Tooth whispered. Sandy conjured up an image of a tall cloaked figure with a huge sickle.

"Called a reaper. Thought it was all a bunch of hooey." Aster sighed, rubbing his temples, and that suddenly made this worse. Not just saying that spirits couldn't be invisible, but they outright didn't believe in Life?

"Jack. Can you take us to them? We need to begin our centuries of apologies." Nodding, Jack Frost jumped off of his staff. Sighing. At least he made them believe. Part one was done. Next, he needed to integrate Life into the spirit world.

****TSCD****

The hooded spirit sat on a rock. Sometimes, isolation was okay. It gave them time to think. Life. Death. They had always been Death. But, Jack wanted to call them Life. It was weird. Such opposites. Death was an awful name, and, they hated it. It made them hate everything that Death touched. It made Death sad to exist on the same plain as humans and such positive creatures. So, no. Why be Death? But, Life was too innocent. By taking up that name, it would be ignoring all the horrible things that they can do.

Tears racing down their cheeks, Death wiped them away. It was better to embrace the dark, to accept the name Death right? Then they weren't pretending to be someone else. Stifling a sob, Death pulled out the picture of Jack, looking right back.

Invisible, they weren't invisible any more. Some children even believed in Death now. Or Life. Was this tricking the kids? To only believe in one side? Because… they weren't just Death, and they weren't just Life.

 _Oblivion. That is your true name. I had always thought that you still remembered it._


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: So, I recently got a message asking about Death's gender. To be completely honest, I'm not sure, in my mind and while writting I háve accidentally refered to them as both she and he. But, the other characters in the story will refer to Death/Oblivion as they percieve it. Seeing as Oblivion doesn't find it much of a difference to them. Thank you all for your reviews, favs, and follows! I'm falling in love with this character I'm creating, and I am so happy to see others have the same opinion. -Z**

Oblivion? A shiver raced up their spine. Oblivion. They had a name? A name that wasn't Death. A sense of familiarity came with the word, their name. Oblivion. The condition or state of being forgotten or unknown. It didn't sit well, the meaning. But, anything was better than Death.

"Thank you Manny." Whispering back, they were afraid if they spoke too loud, Manny would be scared away, never to speak to them again. Breathing in deeply, Oblivion reached down, hands intertwining in the blades of grass. The moment their pale skin met the grass, the blades shot up, growing a foot taller, and clovers grew.

Oblivion. The unknown. That was what they would focus on, even they didn't know exactly everything they could do. A variable, an unknown entity. Oblivion could work with that.

"Just through here." Jack's voice was clear as day, and nervousness grew in Oblivion's stomach. Heart pounding, fingers shaking, Oblivion looked behind them. When Jack said that he was going to try and get the other Guardians to believe, they didn't believe it. After all, Oblivion had been there when they denounced the entire existence of someone like Oblivion, or Death. All these names were confusing.

But, there, at the edge of the clearing, were five spirits, all had eyes right on Oblivion. The Guardians saw him, and slowly, they dragged their eyes to meet each individual's eyes. Not being able to help themselves, Oblivion jumped up, and teleported to them, right in front of the speechless group.

"Can you really see me?" Their voice cracked with uncertainty, for years, they have dreamt of this moment, sometimes as a dream, embraced with promises of talking, and perhaps one day becoming acquaintances. Other times as nightmares, of being pushed away, and feared. But neither happened, as suddenly, Oblivion was pulled into the third hug of their entire life.

North was warm, really warm, and, so, Oblivion slowly hugged back when they were sure that North wasn't going to just pass through the spirit. It was a nice hug. Different than Jack, or the children of Burgess. But, none of them were bad either, just all kinds of good.

"It's nice to meet ya, ya little bugger. Call me Aster." As the bunny spoke, North pulled away from Oblivion, a sad smile on his lips. The man clapped a hand on Death's shoulder warmly before looking them over once more.

Suddenly, a mess of rainbow feathers was all Oblivion could see, as the tooth fairy came up close and personal.

"Would you mind terribly if I check your teeth? I just have this amazing feeling that they're beautiful." Oblivion was touched, as far as they knew, Toothiana just looked no matter any one's personal boundaries. Nodding slowly, Oblivion gave a small smile. Warmth growing inside, they could see. A squeal of happiness followed, before Tooth was touching their teeth, gasping in surprise.

"Oh my! These are the most perfect teeth I have ever seen!" So, they didn't hate Oblivion, and, they were crying. Tooth backed up immediately, and a cold hand brushed the tears away.

"Hey, I know it's overwhelming. I can't even imagine. We can leave if you want us to." Grabbing Jack's elbow as fast as possible. Oblivion hated how weak they were. They were supposed to be Death, Hades, Pluto. The badass commander of death, but, they were just... them.

"Please... I'll stop crying. Just, don't leave yet." Furiously wiping away the tears, if they left... Oblivion didn't know what they would do. A tug on their cloak, and through the tears, the spirit saw Sandy.

 _"We won't leave unless you want us to."_ Most couldn't decipher what the star said, some got used to it after time. But, they understood completely.

"Thank you, Sandy. I'm really sorry I couldn't give you a voice box." It must have been frustrating to not have those around you understand, and have to play some sort of game to figure it out. He gave Oblivion an odd look, and Jack wiped away more tears.

"It's not the crying. We just don't want to overwhelm you." North watched as the pair interacted. His heart hurt as he looked over the spirit they have ignored for so long. He wasn't sure how long, but if she had created Sandy... all of that isolation... he couldn't even begin to understand. The one time he was in isolation, when he first began, it didn't last long, because then came the elves.

But, looking at her camera, he recognized the model. It was an old prototype of his, perhaps six years ago. He even remembered throwing the thing out because the button stuck just a tad, he determined that it wasn't good enough for the children of the world, and changed it.

A cloak, it looked ancient. Not necessarily in a bad way, but well worn. He was willing to bet that all the clothes she wore were thrown away or forgotten by the humans, giving her an even more hopeless feeling. She clung to Jack, and if she didn't want them to leave, then they wouldn't. They needed to start apologizing, because there would never be enough time to make up for their absence, for their mistakes. Looking at the Spirit of Life and Death, they looked so innocent, so soft. Even just remembering those photos made North's guilt rise. She was there, standing right beside him, and he knew not.

He was determined to make thís new spirit comfortable, however that needed to happen.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Hey everyone, sorry for the small disappearance. I may have forgotten my password for a couple days. ha ha ha? Anyways, thank you as always for all your support! -Z**

Tooth didn't know what to think. She had invited Jack and Oblivion (that was what he claimed his name to be) to visit the Tooth Palace. She was well aware that the spirit had been there before, but a warm welcome was in order. The couple fairies that had accompanied her to find the spirit of Life and Death had passed along the word, and the moment the two spirits walked in, following Tooth, Oblivion found himself hugged by over a hundred of her fairies.

Toothiana looked over her newest friend, (they were going to be friends, she was going to make sure of that) smiling at the surprise and glee of him… was the spirit male? She noted that it was hard to tell… but she wasn't going to ask. At least, not yet.

"Alright girls, leave them alone." Toothiana laughed fluttering over to them. The fires seemed to have heard that Oblivion created them as she caught some of their murmurings. "Alright, I need five fairies in sector twelve…" Letting her instincts kick in, she waved them off, telling them they could wander around as they please, after all, kids didn't stop loosing teeth, even when she had other things to do.

As she continued her work, she watched the pair. Jack was dragging Oblivion around, laughing happily as they went from exploring to chasing one another. The spirit with white wings was skittish, and she felt the huge pain of guilt eat her from the inside out. How old was this spirit? How long had they existed right beside the Guardians without their knowledge?

She barely noticed when Jack had pulled out his own memories, they placed their hands on the golden canister together.

 _Jack opened his eyes, panting. He found himself back where it all began, when he first was Jack Frost. He held hands with the real Oblivion, as they watched on. The old Jack Frost was just discovering his powers, when Jack's eyes caught something he never noticed before._

 _"_ _You were here. At the beginning." Turning to meet Oblivion's eyes, he felt guilt rising. They had been there for his entire life….Jack refused to let this continue, and pushed himself out of the dream, of the memory._

Blinking aware, Jack's eyes fell to Oblivion. They were looking down, seemingly ashamed. Frowning, the winter spirit had a great next stop in mind.

"Come on, let's go find Sandy."

**Rise of the Guardians**

Sanderson Mansnoozie, otherwise known as the Sandman smiled, waving in greeting as two figures approached him. Jack dragged Oblivion along, who was painfully shy, and only waved slightly at the greeting. Around the star, sand reached out, blessing children with dreams, but it was instinct, he didn't have to think about it, and instead devoted his attention to his guests.

Jack had previously mentioned bringing Oblivion around the world, introducing her to spirits around the world. So, the sandman appeared to be the next stop. Jack was busy messing with the sand, showing off all the different forms he could make in the sand, meanwhile Oblivion reached out, forming the image of a bird, fluttering around, singing.

With them occupied, it gave the star a chance to go over what he knew to be true. This spirit, Death, Life, Oblivion, whichever, was older than himself. If she had made Sandy… he was grateful to be able to live on earth instead of in space. But, at the same moment, he wondered how the spirit fell asleep without himself. Faltering, he knew that it was possible, but spirits had a difficult time sleeping, and usually if they needed or wanted to sleep, they would come to Sandy to give them a potion.

Observing the pair, he didn't fail to notice the large bags under their eyes. Even if she looked so happy, the weight of sleep loss was heavy on her. Silently, per usual, he formed up a vial of strong sleep potion, and gave it to Jack while nodding at Oblivion, who was busy laughing her heart out at the different creations.

**Rise of the Guardians**

Aster was happy to open the Warren to Oblivion and Jack. Sure, he knew he was going to regret letting the winter spirit in once more, but the bunny didn't miss how Oblivion clung to their first believer. She was scared to loose him, to let him forget.

The way that the spirit walked around the Warren with a sense of familiarity had the bunny worrying for a moment before pushing it away, not ready to accept the meaning.

"Bunny, you have to let us try your newest recipe." Jack begged, floating a couple inches off the ground in excitement.

"I let ya have one, and now you're just being greedy." Aster narrowed his eyes, but nonetheless motioned for them to follow him to his little cottage. His kitchen smelled heavenly, mainly chocolate, but other scents as well. The other two seemed to think the same, and Aster felt pride grow as he watched them both close their eyes and melt.

While they were bouncing around his kitchen, well Jack was, trying to get Oblivion to fly around the kitchen as well.

"I don't want to make a mess." She argued, and Aster grinned, at least she wasn't a copy of the mischievous winter spirit.

"Looks like one of ya got manners. Here. Go explore, just don't freeze my plants." Shoving a small bag of chocolate into Jack's hands, they left before he could even blink. The pooka shook his head wearily. At least now Jack had someone else to bother than himself.

**Rise of the Guardians**

North was their last stop of the day. The two flew in with a fit of giggles as the Yeti chased after them. Yes both of them, the moment North had returned to the Pole, he got all of his Yeti and Elves to believe in the spirit.

"Hey North! We're just going to explore!" Jack shouted from across the workshop, bringing the dark cloaked spirit with him. North nodded and turned back to his project. With Christmas so far away, he told himself he could spare some time on another project. Holding the cloak up to the light, he noted all the places he needed to improve on it.

He already had a couple of the Yeti draw up a room for Oblivion. He didn't know if she had a place to stay, but his home was always open for his friends. Jack already had a room, he had set it up when Jack had first been announced as a Guardian, well aware the boy was practically homeless. So, when Jack asked him the favor of pulling a room for Oblivion, he didn't hesitate.

It was good to see Jack communicate with someone who still had the mind of a child. Sure North, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy all knew plenty, but he admitted that Jack was different cause he physically would never be an adult. And, neither would this spirit either. Something that North was thankful for, kindred spirits, literally.

Jack was loving having a new friend. Oblivion was amazing. They were happy to let Jack do most of the talking as they moved through place to place, and Jack didn't mind at all. They came up to the room North had given to Oblivion, and the winter spirit was in charge of moving them in if they wanted it.

"So, I have a room here, for ya know, whenever I'm tired or whatever. To keep my stuff. Stuff like that." Jack shrugged, watching the steel eyes watch his intently. "North set up a room for you too! You don't have to use it but-" Finding himself in another hug, Jack smiled and hugged Oblivion, sharing the comfort. He had gotten used to the looks of pure wonder and disbelief as he showed the spirit around the world, as people took their time out of their day to meet them, or even do something nice.

"I have a home, but… do you think I could keep both?" Pulling Oblivion into the room, he dramatically splayed his arms out.

"Ta da! And I'm sure you can have both. But, if you don't mind me asking, can I see your place?" Curiosity. That was something Jack had always had, he couldn't ignore it. Images of what might be the spirit's home filled his head, ten times more excited than he was a second ago.

"Sure. It isn't anything special. I'll teleport us there." Oblivion reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder, and in a swirl of lights and colors, Jack once more felt solid ground beneath his feet.

Gazing up, Jack was in awe. Little fireflies flew around the room, candles placed periodically. Thousands of pictures were tapped to the walls, shelves displaced hundreds of odd objects, surely they all meant something, at least they meant something to Oblivion. He sadly smiled at a familiar pair of ice skates on the wall, there was a nest of some sort in the corner. There had to be at least twenty different blankets, ten fur pelts, pillows and cushions all over. It was in a cave, but it was so beautiful

"Wow. It's amazing." Jack breathed. As amazing as it was, he was going to have to bring the other Guardians here, they had to know about Oblivion's past. maybe they could decipher some of this.


	12. Chapter 12

Oblivion was humming to themselves, kicking the air, watching the sunrise. It was beautiful, every sunset was different, new. A new day, a new start, new life. Not to mention the colors! They were so beautiful and vivid, shades you could never even hope to copy.

"I didn't believe it when I first heard of a new spirit. Of the spirit called Death. But, I suppose I'm not the only one." A cool voice laughed, and Oblivion turned to glance at the visitor. Pitch Black. Pitch could see them?

"Oh… oh! You can see me too!" Grinning, Oblivion threw their arms around Pitch, who spluttered a response, looking at Oblivion with unbelieving eyes. "Jack promised he would spread the word… but I never expected him to work this quickly. Thank you for believing in me." Oblivion smiled, and decided this was a moment that needed to be catalogued, holding up the camera, snap, capturing Pitch's questioning gaze against the backdrop of a sunset.

"Your biggest supporter, is someone who didn't believe in you for 300 years? That's pathetic." The spirit of fear sneered, while Oblivion frowned.

"But, he was the first one to believe in me. You have to let people help and surprise you. Give them a second chance." Shaking the photo, they waited for the colors to develop.

"You believe in mushy stuff like that? You truly think they will keep believing in you? That they won't abandon you?" The cloaked spirit looked over Pitch, trying to find why he had such malice in his voice. Perhaps it was Oblivion's fault, in fact, it most likely was, they designed him too.

"I'm sorry that you don't. I didn't create a perfect model of fear, because you have so many fears too. I think I projected too many of my own onto you. But, there's hope in me, that you don't have. You have to let them surprise you." Mumbling, Oblivion put the picture into their pocket. Looking beside them, Pitch was gone.

Even if Jack had gotten Oblivion's permission to show the other Guardians the cave system that Oblivion called home, he still felt like he was intruding without them there. Currently sitting outside of the mouth of the cave, Jack and Bunny awaited the others.

"So mate. You and Oblivion seemed to be attached at the hip." Aster smirked, and Jack had a small blush travel up his cheeks. "Why spend so much time with 'er anyways? I get the whole guilt thing, but…" He trailed off, but Jack didn't agree with the meaning in his words.

"It's not guilt. Maybe at first it was… wait, Oblivion is a girl?" Did the spirit tell Aster before even telling Jack?

"No. I'm not sure, I just thought… she looks like a female." Aster mumbled. This was turning awkward fast the pooka realized. "Why hang around Oblivion now then, if it isn't guilt?" Watching the winter spirit carefully, Jack took a moment before responding.

"They… they just don't see the world like we do. I can relate a bit, since until Jaime, no kid believed in me. But Oblivion had no one, but they never became angry like I did." Before either got the chance to speak again, North appeared with his sleigh, towing Sandy and Tooth with him.

"Ah… carpool is great idea." The jolly man grinned, holding up his swords with glee. "Jack, show us our newest friend's home please." He pointed his sword forward as if leading an expedition. Jack smirked at his antics before motioning for them to follow. He couldn't wait to see their faces. It was beautiful inside. Clearly lots of time and love was put into the place.

Taking the first right, then two lefts, it opened up to a huge cavern. The fireflies of three different colors floated around. Candles alit as they walked in.

"Oh my!" Tooth gasped, her wings fluttering excitedly, quickly leaving the ground in favor to hover further up in the cave. Jack found himself gravitating towards the huge wall of winter pictures. They were sorted by season, and he even appeared in a few. But there were pictures of frozen dewdrops, frost, snow, children's snow forts and people. Sledding, anything winter.

It was amazing to see this much effort put into simply taking photographs. Idly, he wondered how much film Oblivion went through. The had to laugh as he found a picture that Jaime would love. It was a of a Yeti, walking through the snow and ice, something right out of those Chasing Legends books.

At one point, he had turned around to see what his friends thought, but held his tongue at their expressions. They each were looking at the different cherished items on the shelves, each looked more pained by the minute.

"Hey, you all are a bunch of downers. I brought you here to help. This place needs some actual furniture, as well as things that weren't just trash from humans." That seemed to get the group in gear, as he got exclamations of agreement.

Landing outside their home Oblivion thought it felt different. To be honest, they had forgotten about the invitation given to Jack until they stepped through the main opening to the cave.

"This is beautiful." In complete awe, Oblivion didn't know what to say. There were new pieces of furniture. A bed, dresser, a couple tables and chairs. But, most surprisingly, there were huge copies of some of Oblivion's photos hung on the wall in frames. Jack suddenly appeared at the spirit's side, a wide grin on his face.

"I hope you like it. The others helped me. But, we have another surprise for you." Jack gently grabbed Oblivion's hand, and dragged them to the middle of the room, where the Guardians awaited. "Hope you don't mind, but I told North to cut the theatrics." Jack whispered the last part, as North pulled out a grand book. Silver eyes widened in surprise, looking at the familiar book, they recognized it.

"I did have Jangle bring horn." The jolly man grinned, gesturing to an elf that suddenly began blasting an off key note enthusiastically.

"You... you want me to be part of the Guardians?" A feeling erupted in Oblivion's chest, they didn't know what it was, but they threw themselves into Jack's arms, tearing up. "Thank you... thank you so much." To be accepted into their group? They thought it was crazy to be believed in, by all of them. But... to become a Guardian. There was a certain feeling of elation, one that only intensified as Oblivion suddenly found Jack's lips on theirs. Blinking back the suddenness, the spirit of Life and Death kissed Jack Frost back, in an oddly warm embrace.

 **AN: I hope you all liked it! I completely fell in love with Oblivion as I wrote this. To be completely honest, I wasn't really sure where it was going for the most part, it wrote itself. This was the main plot line, but am interested in adding a part 2, same or different story of one-shots of before and after Oblivion was beleved in. Let me know what you all think! Thank you all so much! -Z**


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, so this is going to be the second 'part'. These will either be before or after Jack sees Oblivion, and one-shots. If it's before I will refer to them as Death, other wise it's Oblivion. -Z**

It was the summer solstice, one of the biggest celebrations in the spirit world. Both solstices were a time of great celebration, but, this was the first big gathering since Jack had seen Oblivion.

"Must I attend this party?" Oblivion murmured, looking at Jack, begging for him to say they didn't have to go. "I've never gone before." Well, that was a lie, they hadn't ever gone before when anyone could see them.

"Yes." While it wasn't in Jack's nature to be calm, he wanted to be bubbly and convince Oblivion, but this was a more slow process. So instead, he smiled gently, holding Oblivion's hand. "The rest of the Guardians and I have spread news about you to the other spirits. You should have a formal time to meet and introduce yourself." Jack could see the hesitation and anxiety coming off in waves, he wanted them to feel safe.

"But, I already know all of them!" Jack ignored them, instead, he created a flower out of ice, and attached it to Oblivion's cloak. "Please, Jack. What... what if they hate me?" Their voice broke, and looked down at the ground.

Tears ran down their cheeks. Oblivion tried to picture being around all those spirits, they knew that they didn't take nicely to new spirits, especially if they were powerful. They had centuries to watch their interactions between each other, and they had no doubt that they may hate them.

"Hey, I don't think anyone will hate you." Jack tried to reassure them, his crystal blue eyes were so sincere, that Oblivion tried to believe it. Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't turn out badly. "And, if they are insane, and claim not to like you, then you, me, and the rest of the Guardians will leave and have a party of our own."

"You really mean that?" Why would Jack want to leave the party just for Oblivion? It didn't make much sense, every time that Oblivion had dragged themself to be there, everyone had an amazing time. To give up that chance?

"Of course! Now, you should bring you camera. Make sure to bring the new one North gave you, it will be a perfect time to try it out." The winged spirit barely had a chance to grab the camera, before Jack pulled them off the ground with the wind, and pulled them through the air.

Lost in the moment, Oblivion forgot that they were afraid. Instead white wings extended, wind ruffling the feathers, and let themself love the feeling of Jack's hand on theirs.

"Wooohooo!" Jack yelled, smile wide, and was loving the waves of happiness and glee coming off of Oblivion. The world below them passed by in a blur, wind was cold in their face. "Faster Wind!" It obliged.

By the time that they landed, some of the worry had melted away. Oblivion clung to Jack, their hands intertwined, but they trusted Jack. It was going to be okay.

"They're going to be curious about you, but, I can do some of the talking if you want me to." Slowly, Jack led them through the trees, only to come across the true meeting spot for the party. It was a meadow, there were tables set up, food everywhere. Spirits were everywhere. All went silent as Jack and Oblivion walked past the forest, into full view.

"Jack! Oblivion! Is nice to see your faces!" North broke the silence, being his jolly self, he probably hadn't even noticed it. The bearded man pulled both into his arms, grinning madly, like he hadn't seen them in decades, while in reality, they were just at his workshop two weeks ago.

And, just like that, it wasn't silent anymore. Sure, there was so much tension in the air, you could taste it, but it wasn't deadly silent. North let go, and shoved a piece of cake into Oblivion's hands.

"It's good to see you too North." Oblivion barely got out the words, before North shoved the cake in Oblivion's mouth, much to their own horror.

"There. Too skinny. Jack, you must make sure she tries everything. Now, must find Phil." North wandered off, and Jack began laughing as Oblivion struggled to consume the treat, blush covering their face.

"Alright, let's go get some food before North comes back." Jack guided his partner with him, to the first available table covered with food. Thankfully, by the time they made it there, Oblivion had finished the food, which was tasty, but they would have enjoyed it a lot more if they could have eaten it slowly. "So, anything in particular you want to try? Here, would you hold my staff?" Oblivion took the wooden staff, aware of the trust Jack had to have to give Oblivion his weapon, even if for just a moment. Then turned to the table, which was full of delicacies.

The table was flooded with human and spirit food alike, and Oblivion had no idea what to try, or what they may like.

"Um. I don't know. What would you recommend?" Flowers covered everything, no doubt for the solstice, but it was beautiful, even if it distracted Oblivion from knowing what everything was by scent.

"Okay, how about this. Sweet or salty?" Jack grinned picking up a plate. "We'll share a plate."

"I like sweets." Without further prompting, Jack flew into action, pilling food up on the plate, much more food than Oblivion could ever hope to eat.

"Oh Jack! You must introduce me to your friend." Oblivion looked up, they hadn't even noticed the white haired spirit approaching. She looked similar to Jack, and immediately Oblivion knew who she was.

"Oh, hello Beira. This is Oblivion. Spirit of Life and Death. Beira is the Queen of Winter." She (Oblivion assumed she was female, with a title like queen, but, still…) had long white hair, pulled back in an intricate braid. Long, black robes hung off her shoulders.

"Hello." Now that they were setting up a plate, they were no longer holding hands. Beira's eyes were ice cold, a harsh cold, much unlike Jack's, but Oblivion tried to pretend they were warm. "It is nice to meet you."

"Likewise." She held out her hand, which Oblivion shook. Even if she didn't look as nice as Jack did, they couldn't help but smile at the fact that their hands made contact, that she didn't just pass through and leave that awful empty feeling. "We'll have to catch up later Jack." Without another word, she left.

"She's kinda bad with social stuff, so don't feel bad."

They found themselves sitting in the grass, sharing the food. It was all delicious, way better than anything Oblivion had managed to sneak on their own.

"Wow, this is amazing." Trying some sort of golden pudding type thing, Jack had called it ambrosia. It practically melted on their tongue. "Are all parties like this?"

Further in, there were some nymphs playing instruments, and many spirits were dancing with one another. Others sat together, much like Jack and Oblivion, some in groups of two, others in as many as ten. A couple of summer spirits were showing off their powers for the festival, ripening fruits, or controlling the weather.

"Mind if we steal Oblivion for a moment? The summer fairies said they need you for a demonstration, Jack, so we'll keep him company." Three spring sprites fluttered over, each wore brightly colored clothes. The one in the middle spoke up. "Hi, I'm Daisy. This is Basil, and Lily."

"Is that okay with you? If not, we can just sit here, I'm sure the fairies don't absolutely need me." Jack was giving Oblivion a choice, if they couldn't handle it, then it would be okay. But, looking at the three garden sprites, they looked friendly enough, so, slowly, Oblivion stood.

"Um, sure. Where are we going to go?" Wringing their hands, they looked at Jack, who had a proud smile on his face. Lily squealed excitedly, her purple-red wings fluttered faster than normal.

"Oh my goodness. We're gonna have a make over while we wait! Come on, it'll be fun!" Oblivion didn't know if it was going to be fun, but, they trusted Jack, and Jack didn't look worried at all, so, Oblivion followed the fairies.

"You are such a cutie! No wonder Jack likes you!" Basil cooed, as far as Oblivion could tell, Basil was the only boy fairy in the group. Blushing at his compliment, Oblivion shrugged.

"Thank you. You are very nice looking as well." That earned Oblivion another wave of coos as the fairies hugged him. They were his size, and because of the hug, they soon found themselves covered in three different colors of pixie dust.

"You would look lovely with some more color. Daisy, we have to find an amazing pallet for them. Natural, but popping!"

**The Spirit Called Death**

Jack had finished helping the summer fairies with their portion of the show for the morning, they would perform later on as well, but they promised they would get another winter spirit to help then.

Looking around, Jack tried to spot Oblivion, a little worried that they grew uncomfortable around so many people. But, his eyes fell on Daisy and her crew, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Daisy, Lily, and Basil, who he had made friends with in the last century, were sitting idly, drinking nectar, surrounding Oblivion, and keeping them engaged in a conversation, which in itself was a feat.

But, Oblivion. Instead of the old black and white cloak, that sat beside them, Oblivion wore a dark red cloak, and white flowers made into a crown atop their head. To top it all off, their silver eyes looked even brighter than normal, and a slight pink tint to their lips.

"-and then I told him, no way am I giving up this spot! I claimed it last fall." Daisy laughed, and Oblivion found themselves laughing along, mainly because Lily took that as a good time to begin drinking her nectar, only to have it come out of her nose as she laughed heartily.

"Would you join me for a dance?" Jack stood in front of Oblivion. "You're breath taking by the way." Blushing, they were going to politely decline, when suddenly, they were pushed by Daisy and crew.

"Sure." No point declining now, and took Jack's cool hand.

"Lily, would you hold my staff?" The fairies squealed in delight, and took his staff, while Jack pulled Oblivion to their feet. He slowly led Oblivion to the spot in front of the band, where a slow waltz was playing. "Are you having a good time?"

Everyone was watching them, they were almost floating across the ground, like the music carried them. All eyes on the spirits of winter and life, more eyes on Oblivion than they ever had before. But, they didn't even notice. They were busy staring right back into Jack's eyes.

"The best. Can we go to the winter solstice too?"


	14. Chapter 14

Libraries were impressive, truly amazing. Death smiled at the rows upon rows of books. Of universes trapped within the pages, where someone devoted themselves to recreate something in their mind, and put it out for the world to see. Curled up in a forgotten corner of a library, Death was surrounded by books, caught up in the fantasy of gods, witches, elves, and goblins. Of magic swords, cowboys who never slept, artists surviving on scraps, of children believing. But, that was when a human walked in unexpectedly. No more than ten human years, the human ran to the shelves, a grin on their face, as they pulled out a handful of books out onto themselves.

Death winced in sympathy as the child, who looked to be female, dropped books onto their head. She didn't seem to mind, and instead, immediately sat down, opening a random book, and began reading. The human child remained there for hours, reading aloud. She was quiet enough that no one came to investigate, or quiet her, so, Death stayed. She was a good reader, and they felt special, for a human to read to them. She struggled with longer words, but she wasn't deterred as she continued to read, her eyes flying over the pages, her mind exploring the fantasy land within a closet.

^^Death^^

Death found themselves at the library many a nights over the next decade, listening to her read. Tuesday and Thursday evenings didn't seem to be as lonely any more, as reading for fun turned into schoolwork some nights, or study sessions with humans she deemed special enough to bring to her favorite spot. Of course both sometimes missed days, but it was a ritual Death grew to enjoy, to be able to sit back and enjoy listening to her voice.

Death was absentmindedly dusting off covers of books when one of their favorite humans at the moment walked in.

The human always came to the library late at night recently, pen and notebook in hand. Their head was wrapped in a cloth of some sort, part of a human religion. She sat her notebook and pen down at the table, before moving with practiced ease to the close wall.

"So, is this more schoolwork? Or something else?" The woman was going to a university nearby now. Death had watched her grow up, a sad reminder that in a few decades, she would be gone, and here Death would still sit .

She climbed up a ladder, her fingers running along the cracked spines of the books. "Biographies, so, schoolwork then." Death sat in one of the dusty chairs next to the table, making sure to leave her favorite chair empty for her.

Going between the shelves and the table, she eventually picked out six different books, each as dusty as the last. Curious, Death stood up, looking over the covers.

"Astrologers? Well, this one is actually an architect, I think you may have grabbed the wrong book." She pulled out her notebook, and began reading. Perhaps what Death most enjoyed about her, was that she left her books open while she went between books. Making it so they didn't need to worry about someone seeing an open book by itself, or having to clean up after themselves.

"Okay, his research led to hers..." She mumbled to herself, scribbling down notes. That was another thing, she thought out loud. It made for a great illusion that she was speaking to Death.

"Burning the midnight oil again Noor?" A voice broke the silence, which was incredibly rude in Death's book, seeing as the silence was what was supposed to exist in this learning space.

"Of course, I won't graduate by doing nothing." Retorting playfully, the woman smirked at the other human. Death wasn't sure how to feel about this one, they worked in the library, and recently has become interested in speaking with Death's book buddy.

"I wouldn't call it nothing, you're always studying." Frowning, Death didn't have a problem with them doing the odd human-courtship, but it seemed to come out of nowhere. Then, a familiar weight pressed in their mind.

"Oh, it's you, Cupid." The cherub appeared in a puff of pink smoke. That would explain it, Death shrugged, watching to see how it would play out. The human's words fell to the background, as Cupid took out their bow and arrow. A pink smoke was filling up the room, smelling heavily of roses, giving Death a headache.

The two arrows were pulled back, and Cupid aimed at the soon-to-be couple. Thankfully, Cupid had improved their aim in recent years, so Death didn't need to worry about accidental love. Of course, there were always mistakes and fallouts, but hopefully this match would work well. They enjoyed this human, and wanted her to be happy.

"So, Cupid, What are you even doing in here? Don't you normally interfere at like... restaurants?" Death knew they wouldn't answer, they never did. But it didn't hurt any less as they disappeared without answering the question.

Death left soon after that, letting the humans enjoy their new relationship. And silently, Death wished for a relationship, one where someone would enjoy their company, and talk, share secrets and moments.

~~ASCD~~

Long after Noor had graduated and moved away, Death still visited the library from time to time. Lost in the records of stars and heroes, of women defying society, and animals who no longer walked the earth. They may be gone, but their memories lived on within the books, and their memories remained in the living. For a moment, Death considered visiting the tooth palace, to find her memories once more, and relive them. But, just then, a small boy walked into the library, holding the hand of a familiar woman.

"Grandma, can you read to me?" The woman smiled patiently, and went to the shelves, her hands straying to a familiar book, one of fairies and lost boys.

"Of course." She whispered, and sat in a new chair, which had replaced her old one when it broke long ago, and the boy sat on her lap. "All children, except one grow up..." and, it was like those decades hadn't passed, and a sense of familiarity settled, Death smiled. They had forgotten how much they missed her.


	15. Chapter 15

Music was one of humanity's greatest inventions. To express sorrow, gratitude, happiness, love, all through a completely different, but universal language… it was beautiful. That was why Oblivion sat in an empty seat, watching the majesty before them. There were about twenty humans on stage, performing. Some sang, others played instruments, but each had a look of pure happiness as they allowed for the music to take over.

"Wow. I've never been to one of these, huge human stages before." Daisy whispered into Oblivion's ear, eyes wide as the flower spirit watched with awe. Next to her, Lily's mouth was agape, and Basil held onto her arm, swaying with the music.

"They call it an orchestra concert." Oblivion whispered back, proud that they had managed to show their new friends something enjoyable. "There are performances like this all over the world." The four continued to watch in earnest, never growing tired, or bored. Completely fascinated and in awe of the event.

"We dance, and have instruments, but this is so different." Basil mumbled, watching the humans around them, who similarly were taken with the stage. "Oblivion, you must teach me how to love music like you do. Like they do!" His green eyes sparkled mischievously, pointing to the humans, while talking awfully loudly. Thankfully, no one looked their way, and the music wasn't cut off.

"I don't think that is something you can learn, Basil." Ever since the summer solstice party, Oblivion was glad to have new friends. And the trio seemed completely taken with them as well.

At the moment, Jack was off in Russia bringing a few snowdays, leaving Oblivion to their own devices. Everytime Jack was off, busy, Oblivion was pretty sure that he sent someone to keep them company, and they fully appreciated it.

As they sat there, transfixed on the stage, the music slowly quieted, leaving a sole flute player creating a haunting melody. Oblivion was transfixed, watching the complete care and passion that the player put into their music. They seemed almost lost to the melody. And sooner than Oblivion would have liked, the solo ended, and the hall erupted with applause.

"Now we stand, and clap." Oblivion instructed, showing by example. The three other spirits quickly fell into line, and they all stood, grins stretched across their faces, clapping for the pure talent on stage.

"Can we do this again?" Lily suddenly broke her silence that had fallen upon her since they entered the theatre. "This was beautiful."

***Oblivion***

Finally returning home after the concert, alone once again, Oblivion was surprised to walk inside, only to find Jack, smiling, with his hands behind his back.

"How was the concert?" His blue eyes shined, almost mischievously.

"It was really beautiful, and Daisy, Basil, and Lily loved it too. There was a really good flutist, she, I think she was a girl, but she clearly loved the music too." They walked closer. "I missed you though, I wish you could have been there."

"Next time, I promise. But, I wanted you to look at this." Jack pulled his hands from behind his back, holding a slim black case. Curiosity took hold of Oblivion, and they carefully took the case from Jack's hands.

Slowly sliding the silver zipper along its track, Jack's excitement was growing with each tick of the zipper. Oblivion looked at Jack curiously, but he only waved dramatically for them to continue.

"Oh my, it's… beautiful." In awe, their hands ran over the silver masterpiece.

"You've always been in awe of the flute section. Whenever we go to concerts, so I talked to North, and he worked on this for you." Jack explained sheepishly, and suddenly found himself with arms full of Oblivion, and soft lips on his.


	16. Chapter 16

The Origins: Nicholas St. North

It had been a couple years since the whole 'Pitch - Nightmare sand' thing, and everyone was very happy. And due to this peaceful and happy time, North decided the Guardians needed a party to celebrate the aftermath. Jack was pretty sure that it was because North was bored, and probably wanted to brag to Bunny again how Christmas was way better than Easter. But no matter the motivations behind the party, here they were, Jack and Oblivion, showing up to the North Pole.

"Hey Phil, want to let us in?" Jack asked, smiling knowingly, because not a moment later, Phil was muttering curses under his breath against the Spirit of Fun.

"It's okay, I'll keep Jack in line." Oblivion promised, eyes twinkling. The yeti huffed, but seemed to believe Oblivion, and opened the door to the North Pole. Every time Oblivion entered the North Pole, it never stopped taking their breath away. It was so beautiful, and it fit North's personality so well.

Jack laughed as he dragged Oblivion along, through the workshop, and then up the stairs to the main dining room. It was just as beautiful as the last time they had been there, admittedly, it was perhaps only a month ago. But this time, there was a huge sign boasting: "XMAS IS GREATER THAN EASTER! IS FACT!"

"Oh man, Bunny is going to have a conniption when he gets here." Jack laughed breathlessly, his eyes bluer than normal.

"I think it's going to be fine." Oblivion managed a partial straight face before giggling a little. Jack squeezed their hands tighter, before walking to go find North.

Walking through one doorway, led to another, and then another. But the last one opened up to reveal all their friends, and Bunny who was already pouting and shooting death glares at North.

"Ah! It is Jack and Oblivion! Welcome to party." North raised his hands in a spread manner, a wide smile. "Please take a seat."

The rest of their friends had left two seats next to each other for them, letting them sit together. Sandy and Bunny sat on the opposite side, while North and Tooth each had one head of the table.

"Hi Oblivion! How are you?" Tooth chittered happily, her wings going haywire, and of course, her tooth fairies were affected as well.

"I'm well Tooth. Thank you for asking, how are you?" No matter how small the gesture was, it felt good to be able to talk to someone, anyone like this. Tooth practically exploded at their question.

"Oh my gosh! Such a cutie!" Suddenly Tooth was hovering over the table, pinching at Oblivion's cheeks. Bunny was laughing like he expected this to happen, while Sandman and North were trying to pull her away.

"Calm down Tooth! We are having dinner. No pinching of the cheeks." North admonished, but his heart wasn't really in it, his own eyes sparkling with mirth. Sandman was pulling on Tooth until she sat down, ending him with a huff.

"Jack, you're lucky. They're soooo cute." That caused yet another uproar from the room, this time Jack and Oblivion had matching blushes, while the rest of the room was in tears of laughter, except for Tooth, who was genuinely put off that everyone else was laughing.

"Mate, let's just eat." Bunny snickered after the laughter had died down. Deciding to dig into his food, the pooka tried to lead by example. Except that Jack suddenly had his staff in hand, and froze Bunny's plate of food. "You're gonna regret that, Jackie." He threatened, but continued on his merry way, as if it never happened. That didn't bode well for the younger spirit at all.

The group of Guardians decided to continue eating, as if a threat wasn't just issued. There were a few light hearted jokes, as well as Sandy asking Oblivion what they had been up to recently. Oblivion was in fact learning to play the flute in between their duties as the spirit of Life and Death. The group didn't sound very surprised that they were learning a new instrument, so that probably meant that Jack had told the group.

"I have question, for our newest Guardian." North suddenly spoke up, aside from the laughter, he had been mostly silent all night. Oblivion stopped eating in favor of looking at North. "You, you are spirit of Life and Death, yes? So, that means, you were there when we were created. You helped make us Guardian. Manny could not have made us immortal, you would have had to." The Guardian of Christmas was suddenly serious. The mood around the table had changed drastically.

"I… yes. I suppose it was me. But it was more of Manny asking for you, for me to let your souls go to him, instead of me. And because I thought you could do good, I let him turn you into Guardians." Oblivion explained, their voice soft.

"Wait, so, you were there, when we died?" Tooth asked, she was suddenly somber. "All of us? And when we rose again?" She swallowed, pain clearly in her voice, but Oblivion mistook it for anger.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to die, I don't want anyone to die-" They started, but Jack grabbed their hands, to stop from rambling.

"We're not mad, Oblivion. Just… surprised." Jack tried to explain. "I found out about this back when I first saw Oblivion. When I realized I had been alive before, I started to believe that I used to be someone, therefor dying. And it made me understand." He turned to look at everyone else in the room. "And, when I looked back at my memories, I saw them." Jack was searching for words, not sure exactly how to explain it to his friends.

Tooth's expression softened, while Bunny looked to be lost for words.

"I guess it makes sense, but crickey, that must be horrible." Bunny murmured, still unsure of this whole ordeal. "Can I ask?" This got looks from around the table.

"It's not… fun." Oblivion looked down at their hands, silent.

***TSCD***

Tooth had retrieved North's teeth, and with the man's permission, all six Guardians put their hands on the little golden case. With an almost dizzying force, they were all hit with a sense of nostalgia as they were thrown into the memories of Nicholas St. North.

 _The first, was a memory that North could not recall. But it didn't take long to figure out why. A woman was laying on a bed, tears streaming down her face as doctors surrounded her, urging her to take deep breaths and push._

 _The woman was in pain, a kind of pain only mothers knew as she tried to force a child from within her out. It was his mother._

 _And standing over the whole thing, was the dark form of Oblivion, their hand on the woman's stomach, as a bright white light came from their palms, leaking into the air._

 _Quickly forced into a different time, North found himself and his younger self standing in deep snow, panting. Swords in hand as a young child stood behind him, crying. North could remember this time, it was the first time he killed someone._

 _The young girl had been stolen by some bandits, and North went after the girl, hoping to save her. He knew his own actions before they happened, but what he had never seen was Oblivion, who ran in, and touched the bandit just before he went for a strike. What North had thought was the man tripping at the time, was Oblivion._

" _Shhh. Leave them alone." Was their whispered words before the man was killed._

 _It was a cold winter's day. The bandit North was lying on a fur bed, he was sick. And he wasn't getting any better. His comrades were all sitting around him, already in mourning. North wasn't really having any of this sadness and depression hanging around him, and had told each person that. They didn't listen though._

 _The spirit of wonder could recall it, sitting there, surrounded by his friends. A part of him was sad, seeing these faces he hadn't seen in centuries, and a wave of nostalgia came with it. He knew that he wasn't that person anymore, but somewhere, deep down, he mourned for the 'him' that laid there on the bed, struggling to breathe._

 _Petrov, the bandit's horse stood watch over the scene. It seemed like even the horse was holding his breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. No one spoke, they just watched._

 _Out of thin air, a slim figure appeared. Someone dressed in black, and someone that North certainly hadn't seen the first time around as he sat beside himself at the bedside._

 _North's sense of guilt welded up as Oblivion ran their hands over Petrov's mane, the horse whinnying softly at the touch, but didn't give any other indication of the spirit beside him. Was Oblivion really there? Their ebony hair was a little longer than it was presently, hanging in their eyes. No wings were to be seen as Oblivion easily walked through the people standing beside North's bedside, only to sit on the bed._

" _You've led a great life." Oblivion hummed softly, smiling a little as they looked at the little trinkets beside his bed. They told the story of a man who loved exploration and bringing happiness to other people. "But, your time is done. You don't have to suffer through this sickness anymore." And as the last word fell from their lips, time slowed to a halt, the people around them frozen mid breath or blink._

 _Nicholas St. North watched in fascination as the old him slowly closed his eyes, head falling back, and a small orb of light came from his chest. It was a soft red, blazing brilliantly in the light of the tent. And just as Oblivion had reached out to grab it, an overwhelming sense of magic filled the room._

" _Death, will you allow this man another life?" The voice could only belong to one being, and North knew it. Oblivion straightened up, surprise filling their eyes looking towards the sky._

" _But… he is so sick. He may just want to rest." Oblivion murmured softly, their hand drifting over the wrinkles decorating North's face. At first, North was surprised, Oblivion hadn't wanted North to become a spirit? An angry fury started to take hold, before Oblivion continued to speak. "You can't know what North wants. But… I guess I don't either. And she helped so many people."_

" _He. North is a he." Manny corrected, and North couldn't help but laugh joyfully. Time to time since North had first seen the spirit, it was almost adorable that they couldn't tell what gender people were, it showed that the kid didn't have any sort of bias. And it was refreshing. "Will you let me make him a spirit?"_

 _It was strange, almost foreign to think this whole time that Oblivion had played such a huge role in his life, all of their lives. He was sure that if he went even further back, looked closer to different aspects of his life, he would see Oblivion time and time again._

" _Yes, just… just make sure that he is loved by children." Was Oblivion's wish, beforeshed the orb back into North's body, but this time, it was bigger._

 _Time resumed, and North's old friends noticed the stillness of the man. A few broken sobs erupted, and some left. After that, everything exploded into hyper speed for just a few seconds, a funeral and broken words, before North was left buried in the snow._

 _Quiety, as the moon rose over the hill, time slowed one more time, to a normal pace, and Oblivion stood there, over the grave, the sole mourner. Without a sound, moonlight fell on the mound of snow, only for it to move. Slowly, but surely, North uncovered himself, now a full fledged spirit._

" _Welcome back, North." Oblivion breathed, smiling. "You are a spirit of wonder." But North never heard or saw the spirit._

With a loud clang, the golden container dropped to the ground. Five pairs of eyes in varying amounts of shock looked at Oblivion.


End file.
